Teas be with you!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

I've heard the first four-star album of 2012, and it is "Bhiman," the semi-self-titled sophomore outing for San Francisco-based singer-songwriter Bhi Bhiman. I'm nuts about this guy. He's funny, he's poignant, he's got a very Woody Guthrie-esque balance of both. He's also an unassuming gent whose leather-lunged voice usually takes people completely by very pleasant surprise.

Here he is performing an older original, "Equal in My Tea." It's about meeting his wife and realizing she was the sweet ingredient his brew required ...

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

This is not, repeat not, a political blog. I have my own reasons for disliking the Tea Party, but that aside the loosely defined group is a hitch in my kettle mainly because its existence has made searching for tea news and information increasingly difficult, especially online.

But one Tea Party beef is actually related to tea.

Recent stories about Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum kept mentioning that one of his cardinal sins, according to competing candidates, is that he once cast a vote in favor of Congressional funds supporting the Sparta Teapot Museum in North Carolina.

"Why can't there be a teapot hall of fame?" asked Sonny Kamm, who launched the museum with his wife, Gloria, and philanthropist Philip Hanes (as in Hanes underwear). "And we said, 'why not!'"

Amazingly, they managed to secure $400,000 in state funds for the project, as well as another $500,000 from Congress. A furor erupted over the expenditure, however, and it was canceled.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

A dear long-lost friend of mine has been found, and she's in Berkley writing a wonderful spiritual blog. She also recently sent me the following envy-inducing dispatch and photos, which I'm sharing ...

Friends traveled to Coban, Guatemala, to visit their son for Christmas (said son staying at a monastery for a year). After dinner this evening, we sipped souvenirs ... Tea, from the only tea plantation in the region (see below) – yes, individually bagged, but oh-so-smooth, and fresh. It tasted like it knew exactly what it was – not Chinese tea, not British — definitely South American ... and as mellow and interesting as my dinner companions. Sweetened lightly with honey from a vial packed in my companion’s carry-on – honey from Guatemalan bees nourished only by orchids. Too good not to share with a tea-lover ...

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

When I was a budding twentysomething hipster, I thought I was too cool for cooking school when I acquired a portable bar. You can find these in antique shops all the time now — it's a splendid vintage leather case, like a bulky, hard briefcase, and contains slots inside for two bottles, as well as a pair of small cups, a bottle opener tool, cocktail spoon and strainer. The eyes must have seriously rolled as I strutted into the party and set up my own mixology post.

Now that I covet tea paraphernalia, I'm drooling over this 1920s tea case...

This article about a later reproduction of the case -- which, alas, does not indicate where you could buy such an item -- explains:

In 1930, Louis Vuitton delivered its version of this tea case, an elegant and practical piece designed to be compact and yet easy to remove and use. The case contains cups, pots and all the other paraphernalia for a proper cup of tea on the road. While path-breaking at the time, today the piece is easy to identify with. It has the economy of space and packaging that is often seen in modern luggage, consumer electronics and even architecture.

Here's a promotional video from Vuitton giving a little background for the case's creation ...

Friday, January 6, 2012

I had no idea you could still buy Teaberry gum, but lo and behold here 'tis in a neighborhood frozen custard joint with old-timey pretensions.

Teaberry is just a minty chewing gum (from ye olde Clark company) flavored from the Eastern Teaberry, a strain of wintergreen plant, so it's that Life Savers kick instead of mere peppermint or spearmint.

In the 1960s, Herb Alpert & the Tiajuana Brass wrote a theme for this Teaberry commercial ...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I adore checking in with the Tea Masters Blog, even though it's in French, because the fella lays out gorgeous tea spreads and photographs them beautifully. The images, like the one above, are often breathtaking. This particular post (translated link here) caught my eye and ear — dig the pipa, a four-stringed Chinese stringed instrument. Stephane talks about the music, but it's also a striking object on his tea table. His teaware is gorgeous. I've got to go to Taiwan.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

If your New Year's celebration was intense, or if you don't exactly remember, a cup of tea on the morning after is always a good prescription. It's no hangover cure in and of itself, but it couldn't hurt.

As Tallulah Bankhead (pictured, looking rather blue in black-and-white) said, “Don’t be swindled into believing there’s any cure for a hangover. I’ve tried them all: iced tomatoes, hot clam juice, brandy peaches. Like the common cold it defies solution. Time alone can say it. The hair of the dog? That way lies folly. It’s as logical as trying to put out a fire with applications of kerosene.”